


Fourth of July

by dickspeightjrs



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dean Winchester Has Nightmares, Fireworks, Fourth of July, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Meddling Sam Winchester, Nightmares, Protective Castiel (Supernatural), Sam Winchester Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:42:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25425601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dickspeightjrs/pseuds/dickspeightjrs
Summary: Dean woke up sweaty and alone. His shirt was sticking to his skin and it wasn’t because of the scorching heat of Kansas in early July.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 4
Kudos: 95





	Fourth of July

Dean woke up sweaty and alone. His shirt was sticking to his skin and it wasn’t because of the scorching heat of Kansas in early July.

No, he’d had yet another nightmare. They seemed to be becoming more frequent and a hell of a lot more intense recently.

Dean couldn’t say what started them up again. He never got the doctor-recommended 8 hours of sleep but recently he couldn’t sleep more than a couple hours without waking up soaked to the skin, heart pounding like it just might jump right out of his chest. He thought he was getting better.

Obviously not.

He shuffled into the kitchen to put on the coffee machine, setting it to warm up while he took a much-needed shower. It was 3am but he knew he wouldn’t get back to sleep now.

When he returned from his shower twenty minutes later, feeling fresher but no less anxious, he noticed Castiel sitting at the table with two steaming mugs of coffee in front of him. He must have heard Dean moving from his room to the kitchen and left his own room to investigate. He turned to look at Dean with a frown torn between sympathy and worry.

Dean hated it.

He hated feeling weak. He hated making Cas’ face look like that. He hated that Cas knew him so well that all he had to do was look at Dean to know something was wrong.

In classic Dean fashion, he worked to deflect the attention away from himself.

“Dude, the wind changes and your face’ll stay like that.”

And in classic _Castiel_ fashion, he knew Dean well enough to know when he was trying to avoid a situation.

Castiel gave Dean an unimpressed bitch face. (He’d clearly been spending too much time with Sammy.)

“Did you have another nightmare, Dean?”

Dean sat down at the table opposite Cas but regretted it when he couldn’t even meet the angel’s eyes.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter. I dealt with them before and I’ll deal with them again.” Dean shrugged and reached for the warmth of the coffee cup in front of him – looking away from Cas’ knowing gaze.

“Perhaps it would help if you talked to someone about it?” Castiel suggested, never taking his eyes away from Dean.

“I can’t see a shrink, Cas, not with the life we have. They’d take one look at me and throw me in the loony bin – I’d know, me and Sam had to do it once for hunt.”

“That’s not what I meant. Maybe you could just talk to me or Sam.”

Dean made an unimpressed snort.

“You don’t want me unloading my crap onto you, Cas.”

“Maybe I do.” Castiel held Dean’s gaze, daring the hunter to challenge him.

After a beat, Dean lifted his hands up in surrender. “Your funeral, I guess.”

“We can start small if you’d like? What did you dream about tonight?”

Dean sighed. He’d rather not revisit it. It felt like the pounding of his heart had only just subsided. But seeing Castiel’s open, hopeful look made Dean want to be brave.

“I was dreaming of that Fourth of July in 1995 – the one I saw in my heaven that time, d’ya remember?” Castiel nodded in acknowledgement but otherwise made no comment.

“Well it started off with that. Man, that was a good night. We haven’t celebrated Fourth of July since, always too busy saving the world I guess.”

Castiel silently stood up to refill Dean’s coffee mug while he spoke.

“It was going just as I remember it, me and Sammy together in that field watching the fireworks light up the sky. Laughing like we didn’t have a care in the goddamn world.” Dean chuckled darkly. “But then, I turn back to look at Sam and fuckin’ Yellow Eyes is there, holding a knife against his throat. And Yellow Eyes just starts fuckin’ cutting into him. I’m screaming and screaming for him to stop but I’m paralysed and my voice comes out silent. And then Sammy’s just… gone.”

Dean could feel tears forming in his eyes. He looked up and blinked, trying to get rid of them and not let them spill over.

“Yellow Eyes has been dead for years, man. I don’t know why he’s haunting me again.”

Dean felt Castiel’s hand come down on his and squeeze softly. Normally, he’d pull away and make a joke to lighten the mood – definitely not letting his brain go _there_. But he was too tired, too exhausted and Castiel’s hand was keeping him tethered to reality.

It seemed Castiel could sense that Dean was done talking. He let the room be enveloped in silence for a few minutes.

Until –

“We should celebrate Fourth of July.”

Dean almost choked on the last sip of coffee.

“What?”

“You say you and Sam haven’t celebrated it since you were children and it could be helpful to make new memories to replace the ones tarnished by your nightmares.” Dean noticed a light blush appear on Castiel’s cheeks. “Plus, in all my years of existence, and my many years on this planet, I’ve never marked the occasion.”

“You know what Cas?” Dean smiled, hand moving to hold Cas’ where they both still lay on the table. “I think that’s an awesome idea.”

The blinding smile Castiel returned was bright enough to light the twilight corridors of the bunker.* * *

A couple of days later saw Sam, Dean and Cas gathered on the abandoned field a couple blocks from the bunker.

Dean’s just finished getting the fireworks out of the trunk and setting them up on the dehydrated grass when he turns to see Castiel has made himself comfortable on the Impala’s hood – sprawled out with blankets from the backseat.

“Looking cozy there, Cas.” Dean chuckled. “But, I don’t think there’s gonna be enough room up there for all three of us with all those blankets too.”

“It’s fine, Dean!” Sam’s voice came from the side of the car. “I can use my camping chair.” He held said chair victoriously above his head before folding it out and placing it next to the beer cooler Dean insisted on bringing.

“Where the hell did you get a camping chair?”

Instead of giving Dean an answer, Sam just looked from Dean to Castiel and back to Dean again. His face said it all. The shit-eating grin working its way onto Sam’s face had ‘meddling little brother’ written all over it.

Dean shot his brother a glare, picked up and beer, and clambered up onto the hood of the Impala to join Cas. Cas immediately moved to Dean like a magnet – offering Dean part of the blanket he’d wrapped over his shoulders.

Dean took it, mumbling a quick ‘thanks’ and indicated to Sam to light the fireworks.

As the first few rockets screamed into the sky and exploded into beautiful colours, Dean felt a tickle on the side of his neck. He turned his head to look down at Cas just as his head met Dean’s shoulder.

A small smile drew itself across Dean’s face. He could see Sam’s pointed look out of the corner of his eye but, much like the other night, Dean couldn’t bring himself to deny himself this connection.

Dean felt Castiel’s voice rise through this body before he heard it.

“It’s so beautiful, don’t you think Dean?”

“Yeah.” Dean breathed. He couldn’t trust himself to say much more.

Castiel moved his face further into Dean’s neck, taking his eyes off the smattering of fireworks lighting the dotted sky for the first time since the display began.

“I hope this was everything you wanted it to be, Dean.” Castiel hummed.

Dean pressed a kiss into Cas’ dark hair. “You know what Cas? It was everything and more.” He whispered.

***

Did Dean’s nightmares miraculously disappear from that night on? No, of course not. Dean was pretty sure as long as he had blood pumping through his veins, that there’d be nightmares ripping through his brain.

But those nightmares are a little more bearable when you’ve got an angel holding you through the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on my [tumblr](https://dickspeightjrs.tumblr.com/). (Follow me?)
> 
> Comment or give a kudos if you liked!


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